NEWS

International Day of Democracy

Aldo Xhani, Coordinator of the Citizenship Programme, and Ela Horoszko, Eastern Partnership Coordinator, represented ALDA in today’s debate on “From Civic Activism to Political Reality” organised by the EP, EC, EEAS, EPD, ENoP, International IDEA and EED within the framework of the celebration of the Intarnational Day of Democracy.

The event gathered key stakeholders from the worldwide community of practitioners to showcase best practices and experience on how to strengthen citizen mobilisation and how to lead to sustainable democratic processes. Particular focus was put on the role of (social) media and new technologies and ho to move from on-line demands to real improvements for citizens. An interactive debate was promoted based on the inputs of Ms Ulrike Lunacek, Vice President of the EP, Levan Tsutskiridze, Netherland Institute for Multi-Party Democracy South Caucasus and Jaouhar Ben Mbarek, Founding Member of the Tunisian Manifeste and Doustourna.

ALDA contributed to the event with its fifteen year experience in promoting democracy at local level. The meeting was, in particular, a key reflection on global challenges for democratic systems in Europe and its Neighbourhood. Much can still be done to engage citizens in the decision making processes particularly at local level in order to promote successful community development.

The Regional Youth Compact for Europe successfully started the second year of the project activities. This year’s objective is to further develop the effective participation of civil society and youth organisations in the EU integration and accession negotiation process through capacity building, awareness raising and advocacy actions organised at local, national and regional level.